New Tau Septs, DIY, & Prototype System 40k Rules

By Andrew Schrank | February 15th, 2022 | Categories: 40k News & Articles, Tabletop Gaming News & Rumors, Tabletop Gaming Products, Tau, Warhammer Community

Don’t miss all the new Tau 40k Septs, DIY Septs, and Prototype System rules for their updated 9th Edition Warhammer 40k codex.

With the Tau Empire Codex in hobbyists’ hands and rules previews aplenty from Games Workshop, we can get a better picture of what all the new rules are looking like for the Greater Good.

Tau Septs, DIY, & Prototype System 40k Rules

These unique faction rules are collected from all the following reviews on YouTube, and Warhammer Community alike, so be sure to watch your favorite presenters talk about their take on the book at the links below!

Codex: T’au Empire Retail Price: $50

Click here to get yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Gold Goblin Games or full price on the GW Webstore

This 136-page book comprehensively covers the T’au Empire. It has everything you need to bring the technological might of the T’au to bear on the tabletop in order to expand the empire, plus a selection of lore and art to inspire your own collection.

Tau Empire 9th Edition 40k Septs Rules

We saw rumors for these, and here are the new Tau Sept rules and the DIY or how to make your own Septs as well!

Dal’yth is the only Sept that buffs Aux units. No build-a-Sept traits modify them.
A Bork’an Sept trait is “Ranged Attacks of S7 or less made against VEHICLES and BATTLESUITS are -1 strength” Like Ramshackle, but worse. Sleep in fear, Ork players.
Tau – reroll 1 hit or 1 wound when a unit attacks, +3″ to Auras, Litanies, Targeted buffs
Vior’la – +2″ mv when wholly in your deployment zone on your first turn. Reroll Advance and Charge rolls.
Sa’cea – Ranged Attacks targeting VEHICLES get Dense Cover if the attacker is more than 18″ away. Ranged Attacks targeting INFANTRY (and everything smaller than a Ghostkeel is INFANTRY) get Dense Cover if the attacker is more than 12″ away. VEHICLES and BATTLESUITS do not suffer the penalty for firing Heavy weapons at targets within Engagement Range of them.
Dal’yth – Ranged Attacks against Infantry have Light Cover unless they are within Engagement Range of the Attacker (so… fear the Dark Angels, I guess?). Aux units get your selected Montka or Kauyon.
Bork’an – +4″ range to all guns. Ranged Attacks against Battlesuits and Vehicles of S7 or lower get -1S.
Farsight Enclaves – Always have Markerlight if making attacks within 12″ Seems to be the only time to get marker benefits in the charge phase. Reroll 1 Wound when a unit is chosen to shoot or fight.

The first Sept is the iconic brown T’au. With their new rules, their Vectored Manoeuvring Thrusters looks like the best offering, essentially making the model un-chargable depending on positioning, which is obviously strong!

Your chosen sept also gives you a unique Relic. The T’au Sept is well known for its efficiency in battle, and its Vectored Manoeuvring Thrusters give your (already upgraded) battlesuits even more mobility.

Additionally, their tenet seems great. Being able to re-roll one hit and one wound roll per unit is pretty good.

Vior’la have some interesting things up their sleeves as well. Their tenet is fairly aggressive getting 2″ to all models movement on turn one and a permanent re-roll to advance and charge rolls! The warlord trait is also decent serving as a CP engine when using wargear or strategic ploy stratagems on a 3+.

Sa’cea takes a much more defensive turn, with their tenet giving vehicles cover, granting cover to infantry when more than 12″ away, and allows vehicles and suits to shoot heavy weapons within engagement range with no penalty.

Commanders from Sa’cea are meanwhile used to fighting hard-won campaigns in difficult conditions. They know better than any other the value of key strategic terrain and their commanders can delegate control of objectives to units that wouldn’t normally be expected to hold them.

This is a great way to secure objectives. However, we don’t think this is the only rule they will get, so there’s a chance the rumor above is true where you get dense cover and can fire heavy weapons without penalty.

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All in all, a pretty decent option for a more defensive, attrition-based approach.

Dal’yth is a little more tactical with its tenet by giving troops additional cover rules and allowing auxiliary units gain the benefit of Tactical Philosophies.

Dal’yth, for instance, is a bustling trade hub renowned for its Water Caste diplomats, given T’au are one of the few factions in Warhammer 40,000 to entertain the idea of diplomacy. This lends its armies a greater appreciation for the auxiliaries that supplement their ranks, and they excel in training Kroot and Vespid forces to use the Fire Caste’s powerful Tactical Philosophies. In turn, their Hunter Cadres pick up expert fieldcraft skills from alien comrades.

You get light cover against all shooting attacks (more or less) and your auxiliary units actually benefit from your Philosophy, which is just pretty strong.

The Signature system also seems great making it impossible to target the unit with ranged attacks further than 12″ away unless it’s the closest unit. Additionally, they also get a 5+ invulvn which is fantastic for a ranged devoted unit with mobility.

Bor’kan is all about craftsmanship. Their weapons are better, getting +4″ to range, and their armor (vehicles and battlesuits) is stronger subtracting 1 from the strength of incoming shots if they are below 7. Which makes the difference of a 4 or 5 to wound- which can come in clutch when fishing for failed to-hit rolls.

Finally, the Farsight Enclaves are the last pre-made sept. With the changes to markerlights, their tenet is especially good. If you shoot within 12″ then the target is treated as having a markerlight. On paper, this seems super strong, but in general, Tau like to play at range, so this might be an interesting payoff that keeps both players on their toes, especially considering how powerful markerlights are now.

Of course, being able to re-roll one wound roll is also always a great benefit as well.

Tau Empire 9th Edition 40k DIY Septs Rules

The rules for tau creating their own septs is a little different so the chart below might help explain it better.

When creating your own Sept Tenet, you must therefore pick two tenets from neighbouring sectors on the map above, representing the limited range of influence your army can draw from. This in no way means your sept is bereft of choice. Each sector contains four different tenets to choose from, meaning there are a total of almost 100 different combinations on offer.

This is a little confusing for new players but shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

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Essentially you can choose two traits, however, they must be different and they must be from adjacent zones from the above diagram. So, E and D can pair, but E and C cannot!

An army heavy with Crisis battlesuits can have them Play Their Part to bully lesser foes off critical objectives, using their speed and durability to employ Blocking Tactics and wrest control of the battlefield towards the side of reason and progress.

As for options within each sector, there are a few that stand out. Sector A’s Adherents to the Teachings might be the most consistent option simply because nearly every list runs auras that are important and gaining extra range, makes them all the better.

As for Sector B, Defensive Doctrines looks like a strong option as it can essentially give the equivalent of +2 to save when charged, making your units much more likely to survive and be able to make it out alive and continue laying down fire in future turns. Sector C has Fire Saturation which buffs burst weapons by adding 1 to hit rolls if within 12″ of the target. Burst weapons are already very strong, so this is sure to be a great option.

Sector D offers up Reliable Weaponry, which is a simple one-wound roll re-roll per unit. This is always a solid pick, ensuring you land those critical wounds! Finally, Sector E has Rapid Retreat which helps you distance your models more after being charged by adding 3″ to fall back. However, in general, E seems to be the overall weakest option.

That being said, each sector has a few interesting options, which might mean for some variations in what people consider the best for the faction!

Tau Empire 9th Edition 40k Prototype System Rules

Prototype Systems are a sort of trait system that helps to buff up important battlesuits in a Tau list. That being said these aren’t free and do cost points to add, so only the best options should be seriously considered if you are short on points.

On the first page, there are 4 options with one of the best being the Advanced Burst Cannon. Burst cannons are already a fantastic option for Tau lists, but upgrading one even further for 15 pts seems fair when you consider the buffed stats and the ability to prevent and wound loss negation abilities.

The second page has much more options, meaning there are more good things to consider too! Internal Grenade Racks is a decent choice, providing some mortal wounds (d3) output every turn on a 2+. Stim Injectors is another great option allowing you to get a 50-50 FNP on an important life or death turn where you really need one more turn out of the model.

Here’s all the latest on the upcoming Tau rules updates and points changes for Warhammer 40k.

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What do you think about the new Septs, DIY Septs, & Prototype System rules for the Tau Empire?

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